Chivalry is Dead…

…which is probably why I need to marry a mechanic.

This Friday I went to the movies after work to see Bride Wars with some friends. (it was oh so cute!) On the way there I noticed my car kind of shaking and making a noise. I turned down the radio to really listen and noticed the noise/shaking stopped when I slowed down or stopped. It’s a short drive from my house to the theater, so I didn’t have much time to evaluate the situation, but I found it odd because I had just made the much longer drive from work to home and didn’t notice a thing on that trip.

When I got to the theater, I looked at my tires since that is what I had deduced might be the offender. Sure enough my back tire looked way more flat than my front. I bent down to see if there was a nail or something in it and when I touched it, it was burning hot! I compared it to the temperature of my front tire which was not hot at all and came to the conclusion that something was really wrong. But I would deal with it after the movie.

So after the movie, Steph, Amber, and Alicia came over to my car to try to help. Amber had this nifty little contraption that you plug in to your car and it pumps air into your tire. The only problem is it sounds like a really, really loud generator. No way could you NOT notice us in the parking lot! For such a little thing, it sure made a lot of noise!






But despite this spectacle not one person stopped to offer help or even ask! People were walking past trying to avoid eye contact. One guy even got in to his car right beside us and left without saying a word. I know it is a Friday night and you might be late for your movie, but can’t you recognize a damsel in distress when you see one?!

I mean just to cross off #15 on my list, I sometimes walk around hoping to run in to a situation like this (not that I would be much help in THIS particular situation- cars are not my forte). But judging from this experience, most people have no desire at all to help a stranger.

Back to the story…the mini generator wasn’t able to make a difference at all to the tire after 15 minutes or so of pumping. So I called AAA, who informed me the average wait time was ONE HOUR! We called our friend Spazz, who used to work at a tire place, and he laughed and said he was on his way.

But before he could show up, the AAA man showed up much earlier than expected (flashing lights and all). If we weren’t a spectacle before, we were now.




He tried to pump air into the tire and we could just hear it gushing out. He got my spare out of the trunk (I am amazed one could fit in that tiny little thing!) and set about changing the tire. (After watching this, I know there is no way I could have done that myself!) When he took the old tire off he gasped. There was a HUGE hole along half of the backside of my tire!





I was surprised I made it to the theater alive! I was so thankful to have my friends with me during this whole ordeal, because I seriously probably would have broke down in tears and called my mom for help had I been by myself.

Needless to say I spent all of Saturday afternoon at the tire place replacing the dead tire. I thought they would be cheap since it’s such a little car, but the guy informed me the tires on there now were $215 each! I asked for a cheaper version and came out right at about $175, which is still way too much.

Ironically my car is not completely back to normal. My left turn signal light had went out earlier that week (the one right behind the tire that died). The tire place didn’t have the bulb for it, so my blinker is still out. But it makes me think God was trying to tell me something last week. Maybe if I would’ve gone in to get the blinker looked at my tire wouldn’t have exploded?

Who knows…I hate car stuff which is also why I need to marry a mechanic.